Top Ten Facts

Hephaestus was the Greek god of fire and craftsmanship. When Greek religion was adopted by the Romans, he was combined with their god of fire and was name Vulcan. Being the god of crafting, his most common symbols were the hammer, the anvil, and tongs. He was predominantly worshiped in Athens, which, in Ancient Greece, was a major center of commerce and industry.
Hephaestus, the god of the forge, fire and craftsmanship.
Hephaestus was portrayed as being lame. There are multiple stories of how this came to be. One tale claims that he was simply born crippled. Another states that he was thrown off of Olympus by his mother, Hera, because he was ugly and imperfect, traits never seen among the gods. He was crippled when he landed in the sea after an entire day of falling. A variation of the "thrown off of Olympus" story is that he interceded in an argument between Zeus and Hera. Zeus became so angered with Hephaestus that he threw him off of Mt. Olympus, crippling when he landed.

Even though Zeus and Hera are portrayed as being married, Hera was not Zeus' first wife. When Zeus had an affair with his first wife, Metis, Hera became jealous. She, on her own, produced Hephaestus. This is called parthenogeny, or reproduction without the use of a male's reproductive organs.

Hephaestus had many children, some being mortal and others, divine. He was the father of Eukleia, the goddess of good repute and glory, Eupheme, the goddess of being well-spoken, and Euthenia, the goddess of prosperity and plenty, just to name a few of the immortal children. Hephaestus once attempted a union with Athena, which resulted in him impregnating Gaia, the goddess of Earth. This created Erikthonios,and early king of Attika, in southern Greece.
A volcano, which, being a mountain of fire, was something Hephaestus dealt with.

Aside from creating great works of metal, Hephaestus is also said to have created the first woman, Pandora. She was ordered by Zeus to be created as punishment for Prometheus, a Titan who shared the secret of fire with man. When she, out of curiosity, opened her pithos (jar), she released the evils of humanity, such as plagues and diseases. Only Hope was left in the jar when she closed it.

Hephaestus forged the weapons and armor of the gods, and for some mortal heroes as well. These creations included the winged sandals of the messenger god Hermes, the invincible armor of the mortal warrior Achilles, and the chariot of the sun god Helios. Hephaestus is also said to have built the other gods' palaces and constructed their thrones on Mount Olympus as well.

Hephaestus, being the god of the forge and craftsmanship, had a lot of work to do. Because of this he had assistants, both living and non-living. Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon were Cyclopes (one-eyed giants) that worked in Hephaestus' forge. Hephaestus also forged automatons, which were self-operating machines very similar to robots. One of these automatons, Talos, was a large man made of bronze who protected the island of Crete.
This is Talos, the giant bronze automaton designed by Hephaestus to protect Crete.

After Hephaestus fell from Olympus and landed in the sea, he was rescued by nymphs. They took him to the island of Lemnos and nursed him back to health there. Another account claims that Lemnos was where Hephaestus landed. Being a place important to their patron god, his cult was based out of this island.

During the Trojan War, Hephaestus was sent by Hera to protect Achilles from Scamander. Scamander was the god of the river of the same name. After Achilles' friend Patrochis was killed, he went on a killing spree that left Scamander's waters filled with bodies. In vengeance, Scamander flooded the Plain of Troy. This would have killed Achilles, had Hephaestus not burned up the river god with a great flame.

Although he was married to the most beautiful of the gods, Aphrodite, Hephaestus had an unfaithful wife. Aphrodite had many affairs with gods and mortals . And although Hephaestus was an easy-going person, he did not condone this kind of behavior. Once, Hephaestus planned a trap for Aphrodite
and her lover. He crafted a net made of chains so thin that they were invisible. He waited for Aphrodite and Ares, and while they were having an affair, he trapped them and took them to Olympus for all the gods to see.
A forge. This is what Hephaestus was all about.

Explanation of Music and Colors

I primarily used red, orange and yellow because they represent fire, which Hephaestus is the god of. They're also very eye-catching.
The music is jazzy because jazz is a very free-flowing and unrestrained genre. I believe this relates to Hephaestus because he is portrayed as being easy-going. You just can't go wrong with jazz, either.